


Cold

by VaguelyK



Series: Star Wars Whump Week 2020 [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Gen, Greef Karga is a little bitch, How Do I Tag, Illnesses, No Beta We Die Like Mandalorians, Rain, Sick Character, Sickfic, starwarswhumpweek, the ice planet in ep. 1 has a name it is Maldo Kries and I will FIGHT for it's recognition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:35:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26357302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VaguelyK/pseuds/VaguelyK
Summary: Star Wars Whump Week Day 2: ColdThe semi-prequel to Stumble. Mando gets the short end of the stick for bounties and it doesn't exactly go smoothly.
Series: Star Wars Whump Week 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1913890
Comments: 5
Kudos: 35





	Cold

**Author's Note:**

> yayyyyyyyy day 2! this was... difficult to get the motivation to write, to say the least, but I hope y'all enjoy it!

“And when you return, you will have the pick of all quarries.”

Bullshit.

Usually the “pick of all quarries” was a nice, high paying job on Makeb that could be finished before the sun sank below its scenic horizons, not a three-day camping trip on the ball of ice that was Maldo Kreis, where the only shelter from the rain and cold was the Razor Crest, which, of course, had to be frequently moved lest the Ravinaks drag it down through the ice into the ocean.

Mando was gonna kill Greef Karga when he got back.

He pushed forward through the pounding rain and sleet, his armor providing no protection from the frigid cold that seeped through the thin layers of clothing under the Beskar plates. Normally, Mando would have pulled his thick cloak closer around himself to preserve some heat, but he had already wrapped the child in it to keep him warm in his pram. It was getting riskier each day to leave the kid alone, and it was always better safe than sorry.

Only now Mando was really wishing he had his cloak as the rain soaked him to the bone.

The blurred sight of the cantina was coming into view through the haze of cold, and Mando could just barely make out a lone figure under the roof’s overhang. He checked the bounty puck he had been given again as he got closer. 

Name - Dakmari Bri’dow  
Species - Cyborg  
Sex - Male  
Height - 1.6 m  
Weight - 66 kg

The figure outside didn’t match the description, but as Mando got closer he could definitely see that he had gained the person’s attention. The figure's eyes focused on him(or his armor, it was hard to tell), unabashedly watching him until he stepped into the cantina, the safety hazard of a door snapping open as all the eyes in the room fixated on him, much like the last time he had been there. The door closed with a hiss, sealing off the tavern from the elements as Mando began to walk through the tavern, looking for the bounty. A human woman sipping from a tankard of sorts spoke up as he passed her table, soaking wet.

“You know, if you’re gonna be traversing these parts, you oughta get yourself a heavy cloak and ditch the metal, if you wanna stay warm.” The woman took a long sip of her drink, giving Mando a once-over as he passed her without any acknowledgement.

He continued on through the cantina, aware of the tracking fob steadily increasing the speed it was beeping the closer he got towards the back of the building. He put the fob away as he reached the last few tables.

At the very back, there was finally a figure that matched the description. He was a somewhat short man, with long hair pulled back to reveal heavy scarring and mechanical implants on the left side of his face. As Mando neared, the cyborg glanced up at him, seemingly already aware of his fate. He finished his drink and set down the tankard on the table before turning to face Mando, who had almost everyone’s eyes on him, much like the previous time he was there.

“Bounty hunter, eh?”

Mando silently set the bounty puck on the table, a mugshot of the man appearing before him as the rest of the cantina watched the pair silently. The cyborg chortled, his thick accent blanketing his laughter.

“Shoulda known Kel wasn’t gonna let things go down easy on his end.” He stood, wrists extended. “Well then, we don’t want to be stuck on this planet for much longer then, do we?”

Mando silently cuffed him, before putting away the puck and once again setting the child’s closed pram to follow him. As they left, eyes still on him, Mando could’ve sworn he heard beeping.

The rain had become pouring down much more considerably during the time Mando had been in the cantina, and as they stepped out the cyborg man laughed again.

“Well, the calendars weren’t lyin’ when they said it was the rainy season, eh?” He reached up with his bound hands and pulled the hood of his cloak up over his head, shielding himself from the downpour.

“Ye know,” he continued, “You really oughta get yerself a good quality Wampa fur cloak. Softer than you’d ever think and snowproof, too.”

Mando didn’t respond as the man continued rambling on, making the headache Mando had been ignoring all the more prominent.

And then a blaster went off.

And that didn’t exactly do him any good.

As the bounty screamed, Mando pushed the pram back as two men with staffs attacked, and the one with a blaster stayed relatively obscured by the pouring rain and thick mist. Mando waved the cyborg to get back, which he did, before pulling out his blaster and taking aim at one of the men, hitting him in the shoulder and knocking him back as the other staff-wielder hit the gun out of his hand. Mando grabbed the staff as the attacker swung at him again, and he twisted it sharply, pulling it out of the man’s grasp and stabbing him in the stomach with it before kicking out his legs. 

Mando just barely had enough time to grab his own rifle as the man he had shot in the shoulder came at him again with its staff, his swing missing as Mando blocked it before hitting the attacker across the neck with a crack, knocking him out and onto the ground as he dropped an active tracking fob. Another shot went off, grazing Mando’s leg as the final assailant stepped closer, blaster steaming as the rain poured down. Mando raised his rifle and took aim at the gunner before firing, instantly disintegrating the attacker.  
He lowered his gun as the adrenaline faded, the pounding headache around his eyes coming back full force as he glanced around at the other bounty hunters on the ground. He crushed the tracking fob the one dropped before bringing the pram back to him and motioning for the cyborg to once again follow.

“That was a fuckin’ close one, eh?” He laughed loudly as he walked along with Mando, seemingly unfazed by the fight that occurred only moments prior. Mando simply continued to ignore him, his primary focus at this point being to get to the Razor Crest and dry off. However, the closer they got to the ship, the more the bounty seemed to get nervous, trailing behind and looking around anxiously as the reality of his fate began to dawn on him.

“I don’t quite know what Kel’s payin’ ya for this, but I can guarantee I can pay double it if ye just let me go, alright?” The bargaining attempt fell on deaf ears as the rain poured down, Mando silent as the cyborg followed hesitantly. 

When they had finally reached the ship the cyborg stopped in his place.

“Listen,” he began, handcuffed hands held in front of him. “I didn’t want to do this, and I tried bein’ reasonable, but ye leave me no choice.”

_Haar'chak._

Mando let out a sigh and turned to face the cyborg, whose long hair was whipping behind him in the wind despite being completely soaked from the torrential downpour. His handcuffed fists were raised, clearly but anxiously preparing himself for a fight. Mando placed a hand on his blaster, clicking off the safety. He spoke for the first time that night, his voice rough and just barely audible over the storm.

“I can bring you in warm…” He pulled the blaster out of its holster.

“Or I can bring you in cold.”

The cyborg raised his hands in defeat.

Less than five minutes later the bounty was frozen in carbonite, and not a moment too soon. The cold had fully set in Mando’s bones, and he was just barely able to get the bounty frozen before shivers wracked his frame as he struggled to open the pram floating in the middle of the ship. The cover on it slid open with a faint whoosh to reveal the child, dry as ever all wrapped up in Mando’s cloak, looking up at him with wide eyes. Mando carefully lifted him out of the pram and set him in the bunk, leaving his cloak wrapped around him. 

“I’ll be back in a bit, alright kid?” The child just watched as Mando shut the door of the bunk, nearly missing the button on the wall next to the compartment. The bounty hunter climbed into the cockpit of the ship(nearly falling off the ladder twice), sliding into the pilot’s seat with practiced ease. He got the ship up and moving in just a minute or two, and by the time the Razor Crest was leaving the planet’s orbit, Mando began to notice the ever present numbness of the dull cold chilling him to the bones. But it didn’t matter. The Child was fine, the bounty was collected, and they were safe for now. Mando gave himself a moment to breath, before setting off for Nevarro.

**Author's Note:**

> [MANDO'A TRANSLATIONS]  
> Haar'chak - Damn it
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed the calm before the storm, cause you're about to get decked in the kriffing face by a tsunami of codywan. Unless I change my mind. ANYWAY-  
> Thank you for reading!!!


End file.
